2010 RFL Championship

Co-operative Championship 2010
League Co-operative Championship
Duration 22 Rounds (Followed by 4 round playoffs)
Number of teams 11
Highest attendance 3,686
Widnes vs. Halifax (18 Mar)
Lowest attendance 835
Sheffield vs. Dewsbury (19 Mar)
Average attendance 1,771 Increase
Aggregate attendance 53,130 Increase
Broadcast partners Sky Sports
2010 Season
Champions Halifax
League leaders Featherstone Rovers
Runners-up Halifax
Promotion and relegation
Relegated to Championship 1 Whitehaven
Keighley Cougars
< 2009 Seasons 2011 >

The 2010 Rugby Football League Championship is known as Co-operative Championship due to sponsorship by The Co-operative Group.

The 2010 Co-operative Championship is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in the United Kingdom and France one tier below the first tier Super League. The two worst performing teams during the season, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique, will be relegated to Championship 1.

There is no automatic promotion from this league to Super League, which uses a licensing system renewed every three years. Qualifying for the Grand Final or winning the Northern Rail Cup is a prerequisite for Championship clubs to be able to apply for license in the next round of applications for the 2012–14 period.

All of the teams in the 2010 Co-operative Championship will also compete in the 2010 Challenge Cup where they will enter in the third round. All of the teams, with the exception of Toulouse Olympique will compete in the 2010 Northern Rail Cup which starts before the Co-operative Championship with the finals held mid season.

Featherstone Rovers finished the league in first place after the regular season but were beaten by Halifax in the grand final 23-22

Teams

This competition features mostly the same teams as it did in 2009. The Dewsbury Rams and Keighley Cougars were promoted from the 2009 Championship One. The Leigh Centurions and Doncaster were meant to be relegated. However, the chairman of Gateshead Thunder wound up the club and they were reformed by the community. This breach of insolvency laws caused them to be relegated and allowed Leigh to stay in the Co-operative Championship.

Legend
  Reigning champions
  Defending Northern Rail Cup Champions
Team & Current Season Stadium Capacity Location
Barrow Raiders Craven Park 7,600 Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
Batley Bulldogs Mount Pleasant 6,000 Batley, West Yorkshire
Dewsbury Rams Tetley's Stadium 3,500 Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
Featherstone Rovers Bigfellas Stadium 6,750 Featherstone, West Yorkshire
Halifax RLFC The Shay Stadium 6,561 Halifax, West Yorkshire
Keighley Cougars RLFC Cougar Park 6,800 Keighley, West Yorkshire
Leigh Centurions Leigh Sports Village 12,700 Leigh, Greater Manchester
Sheffield Eagles Bramall Lane 32,702 Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Toulouse Olympique XIII (2010 Toulouse Olympique season) Stade des Minimes 4,066 Toulouse, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Whitehaven RLFC Recreation Ground 7,500 Whitehaven, Cumbria
Widnes Vikings (2010 Widnes Vikings season) Stobart Stadium Halton 13,500 Widnes, Cheshire

Rule changes

Player Safety in Tackle

The RFL announced two new rule interpretations intended to increase player safety in the tackle:[1]

Salary Cap

Fairplay Index

The Fair Play Index was launched in 2007 as part of The RFL's new Official Partnership with Frontline Bathrooms. The Fair Play Index (known as the Frontline Fairplay Index through sponsorhip) will be putting standards of discipline under the spotlight throughout the 2010 Co-operative Championship campaign.

At the end of the regular season the teams that finish top of the Frontline Fair Play Index will be presented with a specially engraved trophy and £5,000 prize from Frontline Bathrooms.

2010 Fairplay Index

2010 Frontline Fair Play Index
    		 Team Pen Sin Off Ban Pts
    1 Widnes 45 0 0 0 45
    2 Leigh Centurions 46 0 0 0 46
    3 Sheffield Eagles 44 2 0 0 50
    4 Keighley Cougars 53 0 0 0 53
    4 Featherstone Rovers 50 1 0 0 53
    6 Whitehaven RLFC 57 0 1 0 61
    7 Batley Bulldogs 61 1 0 0 65
    7 Halifax RLFC 59 2 0 0 65
    7 Dewsbury Rams 62 1 0 0 65
    10 Toulouse Olympique 66 0 0 1 71
    11 Barrow Raiders 61 1 0 4 84

    Source:"2010 Co-Operative Championship Fairplay Index". The RFL. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-16. 

    Note: Stats are correct as of Round 7 of the Co-Operative Championship on 16 April 2010.

    Disciplinary Record

    The following table lists all incidents that were reviewed by the Rugby Football League during 2010 Co-Operative Championship, which were later deemed guilty and resulted in disciplinary action. The offenses were graded, depending on severity, in alphabetical order, "A" being less severe than "B".

    Disc Date Name of Player Grade Offense Suspension Fine Source
    23 March 2010 Gareth Haggerty C Use of forearm on player not in possession of the ball in 56th minute (Barlow). 4 matches £50 Report
    31 March 2010 Brendan Worth B Head butting in 20th minute. 1 match £50 Report

    Notable moments

    December 2009

    February 2010

    March 2010

    May 2010

    League table

      		 Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Bns Pts
      1 Featherstone Rovers 20 18 0 2 735 334 +401 2 56
      2 Halifax RLFC 20 16 0 4 684 509 +175 2 50
      3 Leigh Centurions 20 12 1 7 580 403 +177 5 43
      4 Barrow Raiders 20 12 1 7 607 449 +158 1 39
      5 Widnes Vikings 20 11 0 9 619 488 +131 5 38
      6 Sheffield Eagles 20 10 1 9 503 555 -52 1 35
      7 Batley Bulldogs 20 7 0 13 479 488 -9 8 29
      8 Toulouse Olympique 20 8 0 12 486 649 -163 3 27
      9 Dewsbury Rams 20 6 0 14 454 503 −49 8 26
      10 Whitehaven RLFC 20 4 0 16 281 707 −426 4 16
      11 Keighley Cougars 20 4 1 15 362 703 -341 5 10
        Teams qualifying for the Play-offs
        Teams in relegation position

      This table is correct as of 16 September 2010 (6:12pm). Source: http://www.rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk/match_day/league_table

      Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
      Competition points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1.

      Play-Offs

      The 2010 Co-Operative Championship Play-Off structure.
      The 2010 Co-Operative Championship Play-Off structure.

      The play-offs commence following the conclusion of 22 round regular season and include the top six sides from the league.

      The 2010 play-offs culminate in a grand final to be held at Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington, home of Super League side Warrington Wolves.

      The Co-operative Championship uses a top 6 play-off system.

      Preliminary Semi Finals

      Home Score Away Match Information
      Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
      Leigh Centurions 24 – 26 Sheffield Eagles 2 September, 19:30 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,516
      Barrow Raiders 38 – 0 Widnes Vikings 5 September, 15:00 GMT Craven Park 2,434

      Qualifying and Minor Semi Final

      Home Score Away Match Information
      Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
      Featherstone Rovers 46 – 16 Halifax RLFC 9 September, 19:30 BST Post Office Road Robert Hicks 2,553
      Barrow Raiders 14 – 21 Sheffield Eagles 10 September, 20:00 BST Craven Park Gareth Hewer 2,231

      Major Semi Final

      Home Score Away Match Information
      Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
      Halifax RLFC 42 – 16 Sheffield Eagles 16 September 2010, 19:30 BST The Shay Robert Hicks 1,490

      Grand Final

      Home Score Away Match Information
      Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
      Featherstone Rovers 22 – 23* Halifax RLFC 26 September, 17:30 BST Halliwell Jones Stadium Robert Hicks 9,443
      *Halifax won in extra time via the golden point rule.

      Attendances

      Team Played Highest Lowest Total Average
      1 Widnes Vikings 103,6862,65930,2053,021
      2 Halifax RLFC 104,7951,72525,0902,509
      3 Leigh Centurions 103,3921,26520,1802,018
      4 Featherstone Rovers 102,3531,35319,1201,912
      5 Barrow Raiders 102,0721,32817,1701,717
      6 Toulouse Olympique 102,50085014,3801,438
      7 Sheffield Eagles 102,87183513,0801,308
      8 Dewsbury Rams 101,93585011,9501,195
      9 Keighley Cougars 101,60273610,8301,083
      10 Batley Bulldogs 101,83768910,5801,058
      11 Whitehaven RLFC 101,5805049990999
      Playoffs 69,4431,49019,6673,278
      Total1169,443504202,2421,743

      See also

      References

      1. 1 2 3 4 5 "New rule interpretations for 2010". rugbyleague.com. 2010-01-15. Archived from the original on 2010-01-15. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
      2. ↑ "Co-operative Championship salary cap to be lowered for 2010". Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News. Archived from the original on 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
      3. ↑ "Administration is confirmed for Cougars". Keighley News. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
      4. ↑ "Soap girls add splash of glamour to Championship launch". Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2010-02-18.
      5. ↑ "Cougars hit with nine-point deduction". Telegraph & Argus. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
      6. ↑ "Official Match Report - Round 1 - Widnes vs Keighley". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
      7. ↑ "Co-operative Championship clubs offer Easter deal". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
      8. ↑ http://www.therfl.co.uk/~therflc/championship/news_item.php?id=16949
      9. ↑ "Official Match Report - Round 3 - Widnes vs Halifax". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
      10. ↑ "Official Match Report - Round 3 - Sheffield vs Doncaster". The RFL. Archived from the original on 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
      11. ↑ http://www.therfl.co.uk/about/disciplinary_item.php?id=1678
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